Curated OER
Lesson 6: Native Americans in the West
Learners recall their knowledge of Native American people who lived in the West and reflect on how their perspectives differed from pioneers and argonauts of the 19th century.
Curated OER
The Role of the Bison
Students explore the role of the bison in the lives of the Plains Indians during the past two centuries and the hunting techniques of the Plains Indians.
PBS
Pbs: The Buffalo War
The Buffalo War is an excellent example of the ways in which society impacts nature. Here are three groups of people who have different ideas about conservation, in this example, the killing of buffalo. Walk in their shoes as the story...
Gabriel Dumont Institute
Virtual Museum of Metis History and Culture: Bison
Article describes the importance of bison to the Metis, bison hunting culture, foods made from bison, and what the loss of the herds meant to the Metis way of life.
Other
Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge: Homepage
You can visit the tall grasses on Iowa. There is 7,000 acres on this refuge. You can see elk and buffalo. You can go on an auto tour, or go hiking on a trail.
Glenbow Museum
Glenbow Museum: Pictograph Robes of the Plains Indians
Plains Indians often recorded their history in pictograph form on their tipis and buffalo skins. View the original artwork by He Dog (Percy Creighton)as he interpreted the history of the Blood Indians.
San Diego Zoo Global
San Diego Zoo: Wild Cattle
This excellent resource from the San Diego Zoo presents extensive information on wild cattle including details about their habitat, physical characteristics, size, diet, family life, conservation status, and fun facts.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Buffalo Tales: The Near Extermination of the American Bison
This National Humanities Center site offers an article which examines the main techniques on how the Plains Indian tribes hunted the buffalo.
Library of Congress
Loc: Poetry 180: Herd of Buffalo Crossing the Missouri on Ice
This poem s about a herd of buffalo who are crossing on a frozen river.
Alberta Online Encyclopedia
Alberta Online Encyclopedia: Fort George and Buckingham House
This encyclopedia article sets the stage for the beginning of the Pemmican Wars. It explains the increasing need for pemmican because of the long supply lines between fur trading outposts and the commercial centre of Montreal. It...
PBS
Pbs the West: A Wound in the Heart
As many as three million buffalo were killed in two years after the coming of the railroad. This site tells the story through quotes from one of the hunters and from Native American writer Scott Momaday and others.
Kidport
Kidport: Who Eats What?
At this site students are encouraged to try and answer questions that relate to what animals eat. At the bottom of the web page are beautiful pictures of land and sea animals and when selected, students will be able to read short facts...
PBS
Pbs the West: Walking Pieces of Gold
A look at the role railroads played in the near-extermination of the American bison.
Other
West Virginia University: A Summary of Native American Religions
This is an excellent introduction to Native American religious beliefs and practices. Includes an explanation of the major Native American Religions and their history. Site is extensive and exclusively text-based.
University of Calgary
Native Civilizations
Blackfoot, Cree and Sioux cultures inhabited the plains. They were nomadic people who followed the roaming buffalo herds, hunting as needed to supply the essentials of life.
Ibis Communications
Eye Witness to History: Buffalo Hunt, 1846
Before the European settlers almost wiped out the buffalo, there were huge herds roaming the Plains.The buffalo hunts by Native Americans were essential for the survival of the tribes, and were fine tuned challenges between man and...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Tracking the Buffalo
This explores the role of the buffalo in the lives of the American Indians of the northern plains.
Regents of the University of Michigan
Animal Diversity Web: American Bison
Comprehensive reference material on the American bison: its habitat, physical features, eating habits, reproduction, behavior, communication, roles in a prairie ecosystem, and interactions with humans.
Animal Fact Guide
Animal Fact Guide: American Bison
A reference source on the bison that features information on its physical characteristics, habitat (with a distribution map), diet, breeding patterns, unique traits and behavior, conservation status, and tips on what you can do to help.
PBS
Pbs: Nature: American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation
Website that accompanies the PBS movie "American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation." Offers information about the American buffalo and its struggles in the modern world. Also discusses the impact of national parks on buffalo.
A-Z Animals
A Z Animals: Animal Facts: Buffalo (Syncerus Caffer)
Offers images, statistics, and an overview of the Buffalo's habitat, diet, behaviour, and physical characteristics.
Glenbow Museum
Glenbow Museum: Blackfoot Culture and History
A good description of the culture of the Blackfoot from pre-contact to present time. Read about the importance of the buffalo and the treaties which took away the Blackfoot land.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Things to Do at Home
Families can come together through games designed to make history something fun and integral to family life. Build a sod house like prairie settlers did in the 1800s. Go back in time to visit five families that lived in the same house...
BBC
Bbc: African Buffalo
Check out these amazing images of African buffalo. To learn more about them, read the outline of facts to the side of the images.